INTERNATIONAL BLUEBIRDS: NOVEMBER

11 November 2014

Sam Roberts (@spr7377)

EIGHT Cardiff City players have been given the honoured opportunity of representing their respective countries in the November round of International matches.

Player/Coach Danny Gabbidon will be able to give the Wales squad his wealth of experience once more after being called up to Chris Coleman's squad for the trip to Belgium. Gabbidon, is joined in the squad by former defending partner James Collins. Wales currently top UEFA European Championship Qualifying Group B after three matches, having won two and drawn one. Their high profile opponents currently sit on four points after two matches.

Midfielders Aron Gunnarsson, Anthony Pilkington and Mats Møller Dæhli have also been called up by Iceland, Republic of Ireland and Norway respectively while David Marshall will represent Scotland and Bruno Ecuele Manga will join up with his Gabon teammates.

Mats Møller Dæhli will be hoping to overcome his recent hip problem to play for his nation, with Norway taking on Estonia on Wednesday night (7:45pm). Per-Mathias Høgmo’s side then head to Baku to take on Azerbaijan on Saturday evening (5:00pm).

Fellow midfielder and Iceland captain Gunnarsson will lead his country out against Belgium in Brussels on Wednesday evening (7:45pm). The ‘Iceman’ and his fellow countrymen will hope to replicate the fine performance shown as they defeated the Netherlands in October. Gunnarsson finishes off his international duty visiting Prague, as Iceland take on the Czech Republic at Sparta Stadium on Sunday (7:45pm).

Bruno Ecuele Manga and Gabon have a two African Cup of Nations qualifiers to contend with over the international break. Manga could be involved on Saturday afternoon as Gabon visit Luanda, Angola (3.00pm) before hosting Lesotho at home on Wednesday 19th November (6.00pm). Two wins from these matches would be enough for Gabon to qualify for the African Cup of Nations currently scheduled to take place in 2015.

As confirmed earlier this week, goalkeeper David Marshall has been called-up to the Scotland squad for their European Championship qualifier against Republic of Ireland (Friday, 7:45pm) and subsequent friendly against England (Tuesday 18th Nov, 8.00pm). The City shot stopper has made the Scotland Number 1 jersey his own over the past season, and will be hoping to earn two clean sheets and the bragging rights against two local rivals.

Also in Group D action, Anthony Pilkington could face off against his Cardiff teammate on Friday evening, while the Republic of Ireland finish their November Internationals with a friendly at the Aviva Stadium against USA on Tuesday 18th November (7:45pm).

Currently out on loan with Ross County, Filip Kiss is also set to represent his national team in the coming days. Kiss has currently earned six caps for Slovakia, including a cameo role as they shocked the world, defeating reigning Champions Spain 2-1 during October's International break. Slovakia head to Macedonia on Saturday night (7:45pm).

Finally, forward Kenwyne Jones and the Trinidad and Tobago national team face off against French Giuana, Curacao and Cuba in Caribbean Cup group stage action. Should Trinidad finish top of the group, they will play a final match on Tuesday 18th November 2014 to decide the winner of the Caribbean Cup. Second place in Group A & B will also face off in a third place play-off, with both Second and First place finishers qualifying for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

All players will return from international duty ahead of City’s home match against Reading on Friday, 21st November.

We wish all our players the best of luck while away on international duty. We shall be keeping a close eye on their progress via our official Facebook and Twitter channels.